Snikt Thwip
by Caike
Summary: Main canon. After the erase of his marriage from existence, Peter is left in a deep funk. An unexpected figure appears to comfort him... X-23! Odd, but true! Crack pairing, lemony goodness. Please review.
1. Unlikely Encounter

Okay, so, I know this is a crack pairing, but I try to make it work. This was originally posted... elsewhere. For those who have read my Bleach and/or Naruto fics, I urge you to try this one, even if you don't like comics. Who knows? It might spark an interest in comics. Without further ado, I present to you Snikt Thwip.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel. I just put 'em together.

------

Peter Parker sighed as he shot a web line at the nearest skyscraper, launching himself forward another several yards. _"Boy, does being single suck,"_ he thought drearily._ "It sucks more than a straw, or a hoover, or Keanu Reeves after the Matrix. I wish Mary Jane and I hadn't broken up, but I guess that's my fault, just like everything else. Still, all those years we were together... it felt like we were married. And for us to break up over one little thing like that? Seems almost implausible. Like God just said, 'Hey, I've got a new way to screw with Peter Parker! Man, I hate that jerk.'"_ He paused his inner monologue to shoot a web at a fleeing criminal, allowing the woman whose purse he'd stolen to beat him senseless.

_"But seriously, besides the fact that I don't have Mary Jane anymore, I'm pretty lonely. Also, I'm a virgin, which normally isn't something I'm too concerned about, but today's a slow day, so I get to be rather brooding and whiny when I don't have morons to punch. Where are the punchable morons when I need them?"_

He landed on the rooftop of a pizzeria on 96th._ "Hmm. I guess I could grab a quick slice... Got paid for my pics today, and really, Famiglia is the best. Eh, what the hell. I'll go for it." _He turned around and jumped in surprise at the sight of the girl in front of him. To a normal onlooker, nothing about the girl would seem at all frightening; she had beautiful, emerald green eyes, long black hair and a fantastic body.

But that was to a normal onlooker.

"Oh God, it's you," he said impulsively.

"Hello," said X-23 plainly.

"Look, I'm sorry about the whole 'throwing you at a psychopathic exploding kid' thing. I was thinking on the fly, which I'm obviously not good at, and, uh... Please don't try to kill me. I'm not in the mood for a throwdown with any non-morons, especially not with a pretty girl like you."

"I'm not here to kill you."

"You aren't?" he asked, surprised, then mentally chastised himself, thinking, "Well, duh. She didn't set off your Spider-Sense."

"No."

"Then... what are you here for?"

"To apologize."

"Apologize?"

"Yes."

"You're here to apologize."

"Yes."

"To me?"

"That's right."

"You're here to-" "_Aaagh, stop it,_" he thought, mentally slapping himself. _"You're talking like some kind of crappy writer who's probably bald."_ "Anyway, what do you need to apologize for?"

"I called you crazy and told you that I and Wolverine hate you. But that's untrue. I don't think you're crazy, and I do not hate you. I do not believe Wolverine hates you, either."

"No, I'm pretty sure he does."

"He indicates otherwise with the way he speaks of you."

"Huh. Fancy that. So you just came to apologize for that?"

"Yes."

"Really, you didn't need to. Some of my best friends have kicked my butt and never said a thing afterward."

"I am trying to establish and mend relationships. Wolverine said to me that one of the best ways to do so is to apologize to those you have wronged. Most that I have wronged are dead-"

"Hey, me too."

"-So I decided to come find you."

"And how'd you do that?"

"I know you."

"Oh, right, my scent. Forgot you and Logan can do that."

"No, I mean I know your name. You are Peter Benjamin Parker of Forest Hills, Queens."

Peter's jaw dropped, filling his mouth with the taste of mask. "What the- How did you- You couldn't-"

"I learned it as I tried to find you, earlier."

"That's crazy, I would never-" Peter thought back.

_"Well well, look at Mister Peter Benjamin Parker, on time for once!" said Harry Osborn, a cocky grin on his face as Peter exited an alleyway._

_"Why, Mister Harold Osborn, if I didn't know any better, I would have guessed you were implying that I am usually late," Peter replied, reflecting Harry's expression._

_"Nonsense, Mister Parker."_

"Oh, yeah, I guess I did. Oops."

"You should be careful so soon after removing your costume."

"Right."

"Do not worry. I have not told anyone else."

"Good, good..."Awkward silence. Peter faked a cough. "Well! Thanks for, uh, coming all the way out here to apologize, but I'm sure you have some sort of mission with the X-Men or X-Force or X-Mas or somesuch, and I don't want to keep you, so, uh-"

"I would actually like to spend more time with you."

"... What?" was all he could say.

"I have read the files on you, Pe-"

"Please, just Spider-Man while I'm in costume."

"-Spider-Man, then. I find I am intrigued by you. You have suffered a great deal and are harangued by most everyone, yet you continue to risk your life to save others. Why do you do so much to help the people of this city, or even the whole world, when the world seems to provide nothing but horrible things for you?"

He smiled. "You know, I ask myself that question more times in a day than I can count. See, I've got all these amazing, spectacular powers, right? I crawl walls, I punch really hard, I shoot the little web dealies, it's all cool and sweet and I could probably turn an easy buck using 'em. But... a long time ago, I made a huge mistake, and it ended up getting the guy I admired most in the world killed. He taught me a valuable lesson: With great power, there must also come great responsibility."

She fell silent, the faintest tint of a blush on her soft, pale cheeks. "That is... very noble."

"Thanks," he said, smiling beneath the mask. "But like you said, sometimes the universe likes to give me a swirlie, and then other times it likes to give me a wedgie, and I guess it's good that they at least flush first - on the swirlie, not the wedgie, though if flushing is involved in any way I would prefer if they did - and I guess all these highschool throwbacks come from that painful period in my life where I didn't know there were bigger jerks out in the real world than there were in school, and-" he paused. "Uh, sorry. I'm babbling, aren't I?"

"Do not worry," she replied, "I like men who talk a lot... my childhood was so full of silence or violent noises that I grew to hate silence... I enjoy hearing the warm voices of others."

"Well, look at that. Finally, someone who appreciates my gift," he said, chuckling slightly. "So, you had a pretty bad childhood too, huh?"

She nodded. "Yes. After they created me from Wolverine's DNA, I was trained to be the best killer in the world at a facility associated with Weapon X from birth and every day they tortured me to hone my obedience and murderous instinct. Eventually, they made me kill most of the people that I cared about, including my mother."

Peter was stunned silent for a few seconds. "Yeah, that's, uh... that's pretty freakin' bad. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It is alright. I have found friends and escaped that life."

"Good... Wait, you said they cloned you from Logan's DNA. How long ago was this?"

"Nineteen years."

"Really..." he said, raising an eyebrow. "Say, would you like to get some food, and we can keep talking, uh... sorry, I don't know your name, and I've been rambling on to you. I'm Peter Benjamin Parker, but you already know that." He extended his right hand.

She smiled lightly. "My name is X-" she hesitated. "That is... my name is Laura Kinney. And yes, I would like to go have something to eat."

"Good," said Peter. "This place we're standing on makes a mean slice of pepperoni. By the way, you should smile more often. It makes you look really pretty."

She was taken aback, blushing, a feeling she did not recognize. "Thank you," was all she could think to say. "I will try to smile more often, then."

"It's just the truth," he said. Suddenly, Peter's Spider-Sense tingled and the sound of glass shattering reached their ears. Two men carrying a guns and sacks of money burst out of the window of the pizzeria. "Oh, great," he mumbled. "Wanna come along?"

"Okay," she said and the two of them leapt off the roof.

They landed right in front of the crook. "Really, guys?" said Spider-Man, webbing the gun out of one of their hands. "There's a bank across the street and a bodega owned by a ninety year old half-blind man two blocks down and you choose to rob Famous Famiglia's? Really? Have you tasted the pepperoni? It's like meaty heaven!"

"Okay, okay, I give up! I'll come quietly, just stop talking!" the guy yelled, dropping the sack of cash. "Geez, you're crazy. Daredevil doesn't talk this much!"

"Yeah, well DD's kind of depressing that way," said Peter, webbing the guy up. "Laura, how're you doing over- Hey, Laura, what the hell are you doing!" She'd already disarmed and incapacitated the other two robbers, their guns in pieces on the ground. She held her claws in the air, clearly ready to murder them in any number of ways. "Stop it, Laura!"

"These men are criminals. Shouldn't they die?"

"No! It's not like they did anything incredibly terrible. They robbed a pizza store, they didn't choke a baby to death! But that's not the point. We shouldn't kill them."

"Why not?"

"Because we have to be better than they are, Laura. That's why we're the good guys. You may be the best there is at what you do, but what you do isn't very nice." After peering at him for a moment, impressed by his words, she replaced her claws, opting instead to knock the men out. Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uh... not to interrupt or anything, but... are you gonna take us in, or something, dude?" asked the webbed criminal.

"Shaddup. Cops are on their way. Which means," he said, webbing the other two robbers, running to Laura, and scooping her up in one arm, "That we should get out of here." He thwipped away on a webline as she held on tightly to his strong, muscular body.

As they swung through the air, she muttered, "You have taught me a lot today."

"Eh, not that much. Just a corny catchphrase."

"Thank you."

They landed a short while later and he gently set her down. "So, uh..." _"Okay, choose your words carefully," he thought to himself. "Oh, who are you kidding, Parker? You're going to say something stupid and she's going to snikt you in your bub! And I do so love my bub..._" But in an instant, she had moved over to him, lifted his mask over his mouth and nose and had placed her lips near his. "Wha... what are you doing?" he whispered.

She stopped, blushing again. "Do you... want me to kiss you?" she asked, someone uncertain.

"Well- I- that is- habu-"

"I would like to kiss you. May I?"

He gulped. "Uh, uh... sure, if you really want to..." _"Holy crap, is this really happening? Is she really-"_

Her mouth closed upon his, shocking his brain into a stupor and sending what felt like a thousand volts of pleasure from her lips, through her spine, down to her toes and back again, not unlike what Mary Jane had felt all those years ago. They parted. "Wow..." she breathed, her face flushed from what she'd just experienced.

"That was... that was really nice," he muttered. His usually finely functioning mouth seemed unable to spit any words worthy of its reputation. "Good... kissing."

"I was not merely trained in assassination at the Facility," she explained. I was also trained in infiltration, which meant the use of certain... skills. Your kiss was very enjoyable."

"Thanks..." he mumbled "Say, can we do that again, with the whole lips and stuff, 'cause I didn't have my head in the game, and you did so well, so I just-" She silenced him with her lips. Several seconds passed before they parted. "Yeah, yeah, I definitely did better that time, I think, but y'know, I think it'd be even better if we got to my place, or something, don't you think?"

"Yes."

"Good..." Thankful that his Spider-Sense would guide him automatically, he almost absentmindedly picked her up in one arm and began swinging through the air. She clutched him more tightly this time, leaning her head against his shoulder, something Peter did not miss. She smiled... why was smiling so easy around this man? Was it because he, too, knew the pain of immense suffering? Was it because despite all that he made jokes and had pizza and lived life to the fullest he could? Or was it simply because he was kind to her the way few had ever been kind to her before. Those questions would come later. For now, she just wanted to be with him as long as he would have her.

They arrived at his place, where he quickly changed into his civvies. "Okay, so... where were we?"

"Right here," she said, placing her hands on his jaw. "May I... go further?"

"You can do whatever you like, Laura."

"Good." She kissed him again, absorbing that same electric feeling, and decided to step it up by intruding upon his mouth with her tongue. He responded with his own, which elicited a soft moan. A new range of emotions opened up, sensations that she could never have imagined before. She hungered for more of those emotions, needed to satisfy her thirst for that knowledge.

Swiftly, she reached for his hands, which had been stunned still, and moved them to her breasts, which caused Peter to let out an involuntary "Mmff!" in surprise. He was liking this new girlfriend - she was his girlfriend, right? - of his. He unzipped her top with one hand and began exploring her body with the other. He took hold of her soft, perky breasts, moving onto her nipples, tweaking the erect, pink tips just enough as to make her moan again, this time louder. Her hands latched onto his shirt as she attempted to concentrate on unbuttoning it while he made her crazy with the sensations in her mouth. He began guiding her to his bed, where she pushed him onto it and then literally pounced on him, a wild, excited look on her face that she hardly recognized. Deciding the buttons were a waste of time, she snikt'd her claws out, tore the shirt off, sheathed her claws, and began running her mouth and hands all over his chest.

He gasped as she worked her way around him. How did she know where exactly to touch that would feel that good? She guessed his thoughts and answered, "I told you, didn't I? I was trained in many 'skills.' This is one of them. I know thirty-two ways to make a man orgasm, each at varying speeds."

His eyes went wide at the implication. His manhood began stiffening. "Well, gee. I only know just the one way to make a girl, uh, finish."

"Show me," she said, removing her pants and discarding them in the corner.

_"Oh God, I'm gonna wake up in a hospital and this will all turn out to be some kind of wonderful yet terrible drug-induced dream, aren't I? What does that say about me, anyway? I'm dreaming about a sexy clone of Wolverine? Geez, my subconscious is already wacked out as it is, I don't need stupid sexy mutants to figure out. Freud would have a field day, that Austrian putz. He'd- Wait, what the hell am I doing? Focus! She's gonna use one of her thirty-two techniques, and you've only got one, so make it count!"_ He reached over and pulled down her panties, tossing them behind him. She'd shaved there, which pleasantly surprised Peter; considering she had Logan's DNA, he expected her to be very hairy. Gently, he touched his hands to her body, experiencing the same sensation as when he wall-crawled. He could feel the reactions under her flesh, in her nerves... exactly where would trigger a burst of pleasure. And so, using his sensitive fingers and mouth, he sought her pleasure points and sucked and pressed, causing her to gasp and cry in ecstasy.

"Oh God... Peter...!" she moaned. His name on her lips drove him wild. "Don't stop, whatever you do!" He'd noticed it before. Her speech was slipping from the pleasure... he was breaking down the walls that had been erected from her horrible childhood through his actions on her body.

He smiled. "Time for the coup de grace," he uttered under his breath. Though he and Mary Jane had never reached the final point, they had gone quite the distance. When he'd done this to Mary Jane, she had always loved it, had always literally begged him to do it each time after the first.

He reached his hand to her most, warm entrance and found her clitoris. He brought a single finger to it, felt the wall-crawling tingle, and reached deep into his Spider-Sense... causing an lengthy series of quick vibrations. Her eyes shot open, a tremendous, elated grin etched itself into her features, and she began screaming in pure pleasure. "Please, Peter, please!" she begged, writhing uncontrollably. "Help me, please, I want you inside me!"

_"Just as planned,"_ he thought, positioning himself in the proper place. She decided what route she'd take; her hands shot out and moved rapidly, all over his body, poking and prodding just the right areas. Peter could hardly stifle himself as she worked her magic. He wanted her. He wanted to make her orgasm with the force of a hurricane. He wanted, for lack of a better term to fuck her into submission. Again, somehow guessing his thoughts, she parted her legs, waiting for him. He peered into those large, emerald eyes, eyes that pleaded for sweet release, and smiled. He was nothing if not a gentleman.

Somewhere from the corner of his rational mind, a thought hit him. "Wait. I don't have a condom."

"It's fine, I have something, let's go!" she urged him.

"Really? Are you sure you-"

"Shut _up_, just do it!"

Shrugging, he took hold of her and thrust as hard as he could without damaging her too much and felt her hymen give way. She gave no reaction. A wave of guilt washed over him. "Are you okay?" he asked, worried.

"It's nothing compared to the pain of having two claws come out of your hand and one out of your foot over and over. Stop thinking. Start doing."

He nodded, thrusting against her even more. She began shrieking in pleasure, matching his rhythm as it grew more rapid. Never before in her entire life had she experienced anything resembling this sort of emotion. Peter's id began to spring forth. "Go ahead. Tell me you _hate_ me. Tell me I'm crazy now," he egged her on, cocky as hell.

"I... I..."

"Say it!"

"You're c-crazy! I - augh, God! - I _hate_ you!"

"Oh yeah?" he said, and thrust especially hard, grasping her succulent breasts at the same time. "How about now? Still crazy?_ Still hate me?!_"

"Oh my Goooood!" she moaned. "N-no! No, you're - ah! - you're amazing, and spectacular, and wonderful, and - Fuck, I'm going to... I can't take it!"

_"Boy, she's really lost it,"_ thought Peter, noting the decline in her speech refinement. _"And I am totally okay with that."_ "Then do it. I certainly won't stop you."

She wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him like a warm, human barnacle. Each made one final thrust against each other and the dam burst_ "Peteeeeerr!_" she screeched at the top of her lungs. As she said his name, it degenerated into a serious of unintelligible babble.

Her inner walls clamped perfectly around Peter's manhood like a warm, fleshy vise. "Laura... Oh,_ Laura_!" he yelled, shooting pulse after pulse of his seed into her. She kept on coming, like her entire nervous system had caught on fire with pleasure. Her throat grew throaty as she exhausted it, her scream now fluctuating in pitch and volume.

She collapsed in his arms for a moment, revitalized herself with one last wave of the orgasm, and finally went limp, panting heavily. As she attempted to push herself off of him, she found herself too weakened from the sex and her arms gave way. Peter grinned at his conquest and gently set her down on the bed next to him, taking care to cover her with a blanket and give her his pillow. His expression turned to a gentle one as he pulled her sweaty raven locks from her gorgeous face. She cooed lightly at his touch.

One eye opened to see him. "That was... very pleasurable," she said, her speech patterns returned to normal. "Thank you very much."

"Seriously, you don't need to thank me," he said softly. "I didn't do most of the work. In fact, I should be the one to thank you."

She smiled, making his heart bloom. "Either way... I liked it very much."

"Maybe we could do it again sometime."

"Perhaps. I think I would enjoy that."

"Yeah... me too," he said, laying himself down next to her, pulling the blanket over himself as well. "Oh, and one more thing... could you not tell Logan about this yet? I mean, you know how he is."

"I understand. I will not tell him."

"Cool," he said, closing his eyes, pleased at the day. Suddenly, he heard a light shuffling of the sheets and felt her arms wrap around him, as if clinging for life.

He sighed, for once, in joy. _"Not a bad day," _he thought, slipping off to dream. _"Not a bad day at all."_

The morning arrived. Peter's eyelids opened and to his dismay, he found no beautiful girl resting next to him. He sighed, mentally checking off another failed relationship. Oh well. At least he'd had a one night stand, now. Scratch _that _milestone off!

But then, the scent of delicious breakfast reached his ears. Donning his underwear, he followed the scent of waffles covered in syrup and butter, of delicious scrambled eggs and toast, to the kitchen, where Laura stood, wearing an apron and holding the plates. That is, she was wearing an apron... and nothing more. She smiled sweetly as he walked in in his boxers. "Good morning," she said.

"Uh... morning. What's all this, then?"

"Food."

"Yeah, I see, but-"

"Because I wanted to repay you for yesterday."

He chuckled. "Y'know, I wish more people would say, 'Hey, there's Spider-Man! He's a standup fellow and not a jerk like J. Jonah Jameson says! Let's go take him out for ice cream and steak!'" he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. She found herself, for the first time as far as she could remember, giggling at something. Somehow, in one night, he had given her such humanity... "Hey! I made you laugh! That- that is something, right there." She set the plate down in front of him. "So, where'd you learn to cook like this? Wait, don't tell me - special skills, right?"

"An expert assassin needs many skills. I am just thankful that I can use them for good. With great power comes great responsibility, correct?"

"Yeah, that's it," he said, grinning a toothy grin.

She picked up the fork, plunged it into the eggs, and guided it into his mouth. Peter couldn't believe his luck. _"So, here I am being fed by this sweet, adorable girl who's basically naked in my apartment. God, are you messing with me here? Because that's a real jerk move if you are."_

"How is it?" she asked innocently.

"Delicious," he replied through the mouthful. Suddenly, she heard her X-Force pager buzz in her pants across the room. Her expression grew to one of disappointment. Peter mirrored her. "So... you've gotta go, huh?"

"Yes..." she said, a tinge of sorrow in her voice.

"Well, now you now how to find me, right?" he said hopefully.

Her smile returned. "Yes. And I will be back so that we may do this again."

He nodded. "I'm counting on it."

And so, she dressed and left, a tiny skip in her step. It was truly miraculous, this meeting between the two who were so opposite. Laura Kinney, X-23, had been tortured both physically and mentally into a life of cruelty and servitude. But she had started on the road to healing... all because she met a kind, courageous, somewhat eccentric, very emotional man named Peter Parker.

After he finished eating his delicious breakfast, he brought the dishes to the sink. There, he found a note, written in very neat handwriting. He picked it up and read,

"Peter,

I knew I wouldn't have time to explain this, so I left this note. You asked what 'protection' I had last night. So that you will not worry, it is basically that each healing factor has a mental component. So long as I force myself to recognize a foreign entity as an intruder, my body will attack it. All I need to do is focus and my healing factor destroys your semen. I hope this is satisfactory.

Thank you for the wonderful night,

Laura"

Peter raised an eyebrow. Sure, it was a little graphic, but it did lead him to a good train of thought. "_Okay, so I have a beautiful girl that I can go all out on because I can't permanently hurt her, who doesn't need any sort of protection, and who cooks like some sort of god of food - like Thor crossed with Emeril. What did I do, and how do I stop myself from not doing it?"_

Later, Laura arrived at Warren Worthington III's home, the unofficial meeting place of the X-Force. Logan sat in the dining room, his feet propped up on the table. "Hey, Laura. Didn't see ya yesterday. Take a day off?"

"Yes," she answered plainly.

"Good fer you. Sometimes, y'need a break from this insanity."

"Yes."

She sniffed the air around her. "You wearin' perfume, darlin'?"

"... Yes," she said, hoping not to arouse suspicion.

"Huh." The scent was masking something else. He sniffed the air again._ "No way," _he thought to himself_. "Spider-Man? No freakin' way."_

Laura sensed the change in his scent and hoped that he'd just dismiss it. Of course, she'd never been that lucky to begin with.

----

"Home sweet home," said Spider-Man, arriving in the alleyway behind his house, ready to climb to his window.

Suddenly, a figure growled from the shadows, "Hey, bub."

Peter jumped in surprise. "Oh God, it's you," he said impulsively.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What're you, uh, what're you doing here, Logan? Did I miss a New Avengers meeting? You know I'd never do that; I absolutely adore the punch Hawkeye makes, and-"

Snikt. "Shut up," grumbled Wolverine, his claws an inch from Peter's nose. "You hurt her? You get a taste of what I do best, and what I do best isn't very nice."

"G-gotcha," said Peter. Wolverine nodded and turned. Peter couldn't resist. "You make a pretty girl, Logan!" he called, his voice full of sass.

Logan turned to eviscerate Peter, but he had already pulled a fast fade. _"Punk. I oughta maim 'im." _He sighed._ "But really... Laura could've chosen worse. A lot worse... Good for her."_

------


	2. Breaking the habit and making new ones

Second chapter. Here we go. Hope you like.

----

Laura Kinney, the mutant known as X-23, gloomily made her way back to the X-Men's Westchester base. She'd had to leave her lover for the months and months they'd been, Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, asleep on his bed, her only farewell left in the form of a note explaining the usual: She had to return to her duty, etc. After a night of blissful lovemaking, her pager had buzzed and she had been forced to leave. All she could do on this kind of morning was whisper, "Good bye" in his ear, prompting a sleeping smile, and leave a soft, longing kiss on his cheek while she wished she could make him some nice breakfast.

Truthfully, she wished she could take a vacation from her X-duties and just spend time with Peter. In their short time together, Peter had taught her so much about life, about what it meant to be human (or close enough, given their powers). But mutants were in a rough period caused by the Scarlet Witch's tremendous freakout and she had to do everything she could to help those that had given her so much. She sighed. Still, Peter had given her quite a bit, too...

She opened the door to her room at the mansion to find Cessily Kincaid, Mercury, and Sooraya Qadir, Dust. "Hey, you're back!" Said Cessily cheerfully. "Perfect timing."

"Cessily, I do not think it wise-" Sooraya began.

"Is it true you're dating Spider-Man?"

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Never mind, Laura, she's just-" Sooraya attempted again.

"Oh my God, you totally are, aren't you?"

"Where did you hear of something like this?"

Cessily and Sooraya looked at each other, then back at Laura. "We, uh... heard it, just, around, y'know?"

Cessily's scent scent had changed to that of a liar. Laura would have words with Wolverine later. "You must not tell anyone, understand?" she said firmly.

"Yeah, yeah, of course!" said Cessily. "Ohmigod, this is so exciting. What's he like? Is he hot? Is he a bad guy, like they say?"

"No," she answered readily. She searched for the proper words to describe him. "He is kind. He is humorous. He is caring... and yes, he is 'hot,'" she added, unable to suppress a smirk.

"Wow," said Cessily. "That's so awesome."

"We are very glad for you, Laura," said Sooraya.

"Thank you. I like him very much. In fact, I think I..." she paused, her eyes widening at her epiphany. "I have to leave for a bit," she said, running out of the room to follow a certain scent.

Wolverine sat in a corner of the X-Mansion in front of the TV, a six-pack of beers next to him and a sandwich on his lap. Licking his lips, he muttered to himself, "I'm the best there is at what I do... and what I do best is watch the game and chug beer." As he was about to open his first can, he caught a scent approaching rapidly and Laura burst in, a panicked look on her face. "Laura? What's wrong? Say something!"

She slammed the door behind her. "I... I think I'm in love," she whispered.

Wolverine's mouth fell open just a little. "You mean, with...?"

"Yes."

"Oh, Laura... C'mere. Sit down," he said, patting the cushion next to him. "Sit." She plopped down on the couch, arms crossed, pouting. "Lemme guess... you're afraid that he'll be weirded out or won't love you back, right?" She nodded. "And you're afraid you might screw this up?" Another nod. "Well, Spider-Man may be an idiot-"

"No he is not."

"-And he may babble on endlessly-"

"I like that about him."

"But above all else, he's a good guy, and he won't abandon ya or get freaked out by somethin' like that. Now, don't go spreadin' this around, but... Darlin', ya made a good choice; a great choice, even. He'll take good care of ya."

She smiled, placing her arms around Wolverine and leaning her head against his chest. "Thank you, Logan" she whispered.

He patted her head affectionately. "Don't worry about it. But seriously, if ya go around tellin' people I said this... Haha, oh, it'd be bad." He smiled a somewhat maniacal smile. "Terrible."

"Do not worry," she replied, standing up. "I am good at keeping secrets."

Peter awoke from his blissful slumber to find himself yet again in an empty bed. On his nightstand he found a note labeled, "From Laura." He unfolded it and read,

"Peter,

I was unfortunately unable to stay with you today. I was called away by the X-Men. I will come back as soon as possible."

He sighed. "Stupid Cyclops," he thought, crumpling the note and rising from the bed. "They've already got Wolverine, and supposedly he's the best there is at what he does, judging by how often he says that. Isn't that enough? But I bet if she didn't go, the X-Men would be wiped out by the Purifiers or the Marauders or some sort of mutant hating nonsense, and that would be all my fault, just like everything else. Hey, there's another thing we have in common: everyone hates us, though people hate her as part of her race and me as, well, 'THAT WALL-CRAWLING MENACE.'"

Peter stretched, reaching for his costume. "Boy, she really gave it to me last night. Must be doing something right for a change." Sirens rang outside his window. "Well, off to work. Whoopee."

-----------

Laura, in full X-Force gear, finished taking down the last of the few purifiers. Wolverine sniffed the air around her battle. "He ain't dead," he remarked, somewhat critically.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He is useful to us if he is alive. I did not see fit to execute him."

"Uh-huh. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're turnin' soft on us."

"That is untrue."

He moved in close to whisper. "Right. Ever since you and the Spider started hookin' up, I been noticin' that you've started killin' less and less. He told ya about the whole 'Great power, great responsibility' crap, didn't he?"

"He did."

He leaned back. "Well. I ain't complainin'. That's exactly what a girl like you needs. Now go on, get outta here. Tell that jackass how y'feel." She nodded and turned, running back to her vehicle. "But I am grateful to Webs..." he thought, "For giving ya that which none of us ever could hope to give."

A few hours later, Peter was wrapping up a mugging. "Robbing an old lady with an AK-47?" he said, punching the webbed mugger's lights out. "That's like kicking a puppy. Down a flight of stairs. And into a sewer.... where it's eaten by alligators. Although at that point, it's more the alligator's fault, but, if you believe those stories, it could be the fault of some kid who didn't take care of it and flushed it so it mutated into a giant lizard, which I always found odd, because I know a thing or two about giant lizards. They're usually created by some scientist trying to regrow his arm with a freaky serum and then he hits me with the freakin' tail and I have to explain to my dentist how I loosened yet another molar and he's already looked at me funny for my last excuse - my girlfriend knocked it out during sex - but if he knew my girlfriend, whoo boy! She's-"

"Excuse me, Mister Spider-Man?" asked the old lady, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"I do believe he's been unconscious for at least thirty seconds."

"Huh?" he turned, finding that the thug had in fact been knocked out for a while. "Oh. I guess so. Here's your purse, anyway, ma'am."

"Thank you, Mister Spider-Man."

"No problem. Just doing my friendly neighborhood Spider-job," he said, waving to the little old lady as she walked away. Leaping, he shot a webline and began swinging back to his apartment. "Sheesh. My mouth was on overdrive there. Guess my mind's been on Laura too much, and when I get distracted, my mouth takes over. Unfortunate. But Laura's really great." He landed in the usual alley behind his apartment window. "She's smart, she's beautiful, she's adorable, she can hold her own in a fight... I mean, I'm starting to think that I- woah, Spider-Sense." The sound of a snikt behind him made him crouch slightly into battle stance. "Is Logan here to try and scare me again? This is like the fifth time this month." He turned. "Laura?"

"Hello, Spider-Man," she said, approaching him as she un-snikted.

"What's with the claws?" he asked, giving her a quick embrace.

"I triggered your Spider-Sense to get your attention."

"Oh. Pretty clever. Missed you today."

"I missed you as well. Shall we head up?"

"Yeah, sure. Just climb aboard, hotstuff."

As she was about to latch onto his back so that he could carry her up to his window, she stopped dead in her tracks and her eyes shot open. "Run," she commanded, panicked.

"What? Why?"

"Just do it!"

"But-" His Spider-Sensed tingled. He grabbed her and leapt out of the way of a grenade blast. "We're getting out of here, Laura!" he said, swinging from a web.

"No! You must drop me. They are here for me."

"'They'?"

"The Facility."

Peter remembered the horrors Laura had described to him about the Facility. "Then I'm definitely not letting you go. Like I said, we're getting the hell out of here!"

Suddenly, however, a flurry of knives cut through his web, causing them to fall haphazardly to the ground where a platoon of soldiers stood, surrounding them. "X-23! Come with us or we will force you to!"

"Please, run," she pleaded to Peter.

"Not a chance. I've let too many people in my life die, and you're definitely not going to be another one. We're both getting out of this alive." He launched a web at the soldiers in front of him while she leapt, claws drawn, at a group behind her. Peter couldn't help but notice that she was merely deactivating their tech, not killing them.

They took down more and more soldiers until only one remained. "You think you've won, X?" he said, lifting a light green vial and loading it into his gun. "Stand down."

Her eyes widened in fear and she began shivering. She glanced at Peter, then back to the soldier. Withdrawing her talons, she fell to her knees, her hands behind her head.

"Laura? What are you doing?!" Peter called, leaping in front of his girlfriend. "Get up! We've just got one guy left to hit!"

"Too easy, X," said the soldier, aiming and shooting the gun directly at Peter's back. His Spider-Sensed alerted him to the shot, but he refused to dodge for fear that it might hurt Laura instead. The vial cracked and the liquid splashed Peter's costume, soaking through to his skin.

"Nooo!" she cried, her voice flooded with tragedy. The soldier began to retreat.

Peter flinched, but the liquid seemed to have no negative affects. It wasn't burning, and if it was a toxin, his spider blood would easily take care of it. "Laura, I'm okay," he said. "Looks like it's just a bluff. C'mon, let's go after-"

Snikt.

Suddenly, his Spider-Sense blared in a dizzying intensity. Despite his swift dodge, he felt two slashes across her chest. "Laura? What the hell's the matter with you?" he asked, dodging a bladed kick. As he caught the sight of her blood red eyes, he understood. She'd told him about the trigger scent, the horrible liquid atrocity that had caused her to murder her beloved teacher, her mother, and almost what was left of her family. "My God..." he had said, "So, you'll kill anything that's doused with even a drop of this fluid?"

"Yes," she'd said, leaning him, her eyes closed in sorrowful remembrance, a frown on her full, soft lips.

"Even me?"

Her eyes had opened ever so slightly as her heart had thumped. "No... no matter what, I will never kill you."

Now, however, Peter wasn't so sure she could live up to her promise. In this state, from what she'd told him, she was several times more dangerous than before. "Gotta take this fight away from people. She'll hurt anyone who gets in the way of killing me." He leapt away from her while he got her with a web strand, pulling her along with him. "Ooh, what's wrong, baby? Is this for that time I called Logan smelly? I meant it in a good way! I mean, who doesn't like the sweet aroma of a KFC dumpster?" She lunged at him, roaring at the top of her lungs. "Well, you make a good point, sweetie. I apologize."

They neared an alley. "This should be safe enough. I don't want to hurt her... anything but that." "Laura, listen to me. You can break this. You're stronger than what they did to you." She sliced the fire-escape above him, causing it to collapse. He dodged. "It's me, Laura! It's Peter Parker! It's your boyfriend!" After cutting a section of a wall out, she kicked it at high velocity towards Peter, He webbed it out of his way. "Stop it, Laura!" He shot a web shot at her face, blinding her. "That should take care of her for a bit... wait, what's she doing?" She began clawing the webbing out, cutting deep gashes in her own face. "That was dumb. Stupid, Parker, very stupid. Maybe this will work." He webbed her legs and arms to the wall, applying a lot of fluid so that she wouldn't be able to break free. Desperate, he unmasked, not caring who might be around. He approached, grasping her smooth cheeks, the cuts already healed. Briefly, he noted the irony that even while she had murderous intent spilling out every pore, her skin was still as soft as ever.

"Laura," he said, looking into her enraged eyes. "Don't do this. Please... snap out of it!" Her expression didn't budge. "Please..." he said again, his resolve weakened. "This isn't you. This isn't the woman I love."

Suddenly, she froze. She was no longer trying to bite his face off. Peter raised an eyebrow. "This isn't the woman I love," he repeated, testing his hypothesis. The tension in her body dissipated somewhat. Her head tilted downward. She muttered something incoherently. "What did you say?"

"K-kill... me..." she said in a half-plea, half-growl.

"What? No!" he said, shocked.

"You... h-have to... I can already f-feel myself slipping."

"I can't... I won't do that, Laura!"

"If you don't... I will not be able to stop myself. I will ch-chase you until you are d-dead." She raised her head to reveal two thick streams of tears. "Please don't let me kill another person that I love!" she cried. "I... I don't..." She fell silent and began snarling at him again.

"Laura," he said, almost inaudible, as she finally freed herself from the webbing. "I love you with all my heart. If we don't both live through this, it's all for naught."

She fell on all fours and her eyes began shifting between blood red and emerald green. "My... name... is Laura Kinney!" she said, carving out several chunks of the ground manically. "That is the name... my mother, Sarah Kinney, gave me. It is _not_... X-23!" With one last anguished cry, she fell limp on the ground.

Peter rushed over to her, worried. "Laura?" he whispered.

She turned to look up at him, her beautiful eyes shining with green centers. "Hello, Peter."

He breathed a tremendous sigh of relief. "Thank God... I almost thought I'd lost you for a second there."

"I told you, did I not?" she said, tenderly, slowly running her fingers across his cheek. "I would never kill you, no matter what."

"Yeah, I suppose you did," he said, smiling. "C'mon, let's get you home," he said, reaching for his mask.

"Okay." They swung away, towards the apartment. "Peter," she mumbled, mid-swing.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for saving me... and for not giving up on me."

"Don't worry about it. If I didn't, who would cook me delicious breakfast all the time?" he joked.

She giggled softly. "Did you mean what you said, Peter?"

"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "I... these months we've been together, they've been absolutely fantastic. There's something about you that I recognize as.. almost familiar, like a kindred spirit. You've obviously had it worse than I have, but... I can't help but feel close with you, not just emotionally, but... well, I've never been much of a religious guy, but I feel you and I, when we're together, make things... 'whole.'"

She clutched Peter more tightly. The tiny sobs and light warmth on his chest told him that she was crying. "Th-thank you, Peter. I l-love you too... so very, very much."

As he smiled, touched at her simple yet loaded words, all he could think to do was hold her ever tighter.

At long last, they'd returned to the apartment. Laura's wounds had all closed up, and Peter's had begun to clot. After entering through the window, he gently rested her down on his bed, making sure to keep her hair out of her face. "You've had a rough day," he whispered, kissing her cheek. "Rest. There's plenty of time to have fun tomorrow."

She closed her eyes, a smile on her lips as she drifted into a well-deserved sleep. Peter's heart flooded with joy. "You know," he kept whispering, just loud enough so that only he could hear it, "When I first met you, I thought you were one of the scariest girls I'd ever met, and I've met quite a few in my heyday. Yes, I'm talking about Felicia Hardy. I mean, what's not to be frightened of? You were this small girl, all feral as you were back then, with Logan's claws, snarling teeth, and wearing that ridiculous Sabertooth getup. Boy, am I glad you shifted from that. You look much better in your punky-goth-esque clothes. But hey, We Fastball Special'd. That meant something. I mean, why do you think Wolverine and Colossus are so close?"

He stroked the back of her head, running his fingers through her long, sleek, silken hair. "Then, months ago, when you approached me again... Well, I was still afraid of you, at first. I mean, you appeared out of nowhere... and then you did something very few had ever done for me, for my Spider-Man side. You apologized. You were kind. What was most incredible was that you did it for the slightest foul. That... that is amazing. Spectacular."

"And I said my bit about power and responsibility, and how killing was wrong... and you called me noble. Now, for my philosophy, I've been called a bunch of things. 'Stupid.' 'Corny.' 'Fred,' though that was by a demented homeless man. But noble? That... was a new one. You looked so cute, that day - of course, you always look cute - with your bright smile, which used to be so rare back then, and the slightest hint of a blush on those cute cheeks of yours."

"So you kissed me. It was great. I was stunned, just utterly floored... and we spent our first night together, as one. Now that- that was a great night. After that, aside from the usual interruptions, it was smoooooth sailing. Little by little, I started to make you laugh, started to see you flash that wonderful smile, and in return, though I'd never ask, you taught me about your awful past. I could barely contain my rage at what those jerks did to you. And as you told me all that, you were struck with grief, yet you had this sort of... cathartic look on your face. You became my tragic angel."

"Now I've broken you of what you said was your greatest fear: the dreaded trigger scent. How 'bout that? I promise you that we'll get the scum that put that reaction in you. We will stop them. That level of cruelty ends at our hands." Discarding his gloves and webshooters, he put his hand to the soft curve of her jaw, planted a kiss on her cheek, and whispered, "I hope your dreams are better than this reality."

Deciding he wanted to shower, he stood, gingerly rubbing the healing double-slashes on his chest. Suddenly, he felt two small yet strong hands around his waist. "Do honestly you think you can just leave, Mister Parker?"

"You're awake?" he asked, feeling dumb at the obvious question. "You should rest. Your stress levels peaked today, and-"

"A healing factor is useful," she interrupted him. "It makes for excellent stamina recovery." He swiveled around. "Pants off," she ordered, a devious grin on her face.

"How do you want it?" he asked casually.

"Gentle, for now. I may change my mind."

"Aye aye," he said, leaning in to kiss her. She lunged first, crushing her soft lips against his, running her hands around his manly jawline. That oh-so familiar and yet still so incredible electric feeling rush through her. Her mouth opened, silently begging him for his tongue, that it may probe her, pleasure her. He was always so good with his movements, perhaps a reflection of his kind nature. One would think that after all the times they'd made love, she would have gotten used to it. Such was not the case. She moaned, loving the feeling of his tongue caressing hers.

"Next..." she instructed as they parted for air. That was his cue to remove her low-cut tanktop while she removed his uniform's top. He quickly obliged, casting off the obstructing garments and groping her breasts with his surface-sensitive hands. Groaning softly at his touch, she spoke softly, "Rougher, now..." He nodded, his heart pounding excitedly. His his face reached down to her ample busom. Her chest wasn't overly large, but it wasn't flat at all. It was perfect; just right. He applied his mouth to her nipple, sucking lightly at first, then more forcefully. She gasped, her expression turned to a smile. As soon as he applied his teeth, she shrieked, her hands balled into fists from pleasure. Quickly, she began to repay the favor; her hands, working faster than ever, ran all over his body, pressing the trigger points just enough to send erotic energy through him.

Peter drew a sharp breath, forcing him to concentrate in order to not lose his focus on the task at hand (or mouth, as it would have it). Feeling the need to finish quickly, he ran his spidery fingers down her perfectly built abdomen, sending a flurry of butterfly kisses all the way down to her bellybutton and past it, right to the waistline of her pants. Pushing her to lie on the bed, he nearly tore her pants in two and applied his efforts to her lower half. His fingers glided along her inner thighs, causing her to shudder in need.

"Please, Peter... please do it!" she squeaked. Peter knew what she wanted. Activating his Spider-sense, he placed his finger to her clitoris and imagined sticking to a wall. The resulting vibrations from his finger sent her into a world of pure ecstasy. "Oh God. Oh my God!" she cried. "Now, Peter, finish it! Fuck me!" There it was, he thought with a smile. Her mind had broken down into desire. Silently, he laid down in front of her and gestured. Understanding, she gently settled down, impaling herself on his large, erect manhood. They began their thrusting.

Suddenly, Laura felt a burst of emotion. Ever since she began seeing Peter, she'd felt her range of emotions open up. She discovered feelings about memories she'd had... however, for every happy memory she had, three unhappy memories surfaced. She revisited her traumatic childhood, reliving the memories of all the torture that she endured...

... And she began crying, right as she and Peter were making love. "They... they were so horrible to me," she whimpered.

"I know," he said, proceeding on while listening attentively.

"They b-beat me, and-and-and they irradiated me to make my claws grow, and sawed my bones and applied the adamantium without anesthetic, and left me to die all the time, and b-broke every bone in my body over and over." The tears flowed in streams.

"That's horrible..."

"And they called me 'animal,' but I don't think even animals get treated this bad."

"They don't."

"They made me kill my sensei, the first person to be kind to me! They made me... they made me kill my mommy! I loved her, Peter, I loved her so much, and... she died by my hand! I spilled her blood!" She sobbed, yet continued thrusting harder and harder.

"It wasn't your fault," he reassured her.

"I know... I know, but I can't help but think that I could have stopped it... please, Peter, please help me feel better. Please, climax with me..."

"You got it," he thought, and with one final thrust, she came like a hurricane, jettisoning Peter into his own orgasm.

His ended far before hers and so he watched as hers tore through her body. "Oh Goooooodd!" she screamed. "I love you, Peter Parker!" Eventually, she collapsed on him, panting to the point of almost wheezing.

"I love you too, Laura Kinney."

Just like that, she was back to her usual speech. "Thank you, Peter. I am sorry for that..." she said soothingly, gently tracing the gashes across his chest.

"You don't ever need to apologize for something like that. I love you, and as long as we have that, we're unbreakable."

"Yes... Thank you."

After a short silence, he said, "By the way, there's someone... special I want you to meet tomorrow."

"Okay."

-------------

"Oh, hello, Peter, you're just in time," said Aunt May, "I have some wheatcakes served, and- well, who is this?"

"Hey, Aunt May," he said and turned to gesture to Laura. "This is Laura Kinney, my... girlfriend. Laura Kinney, this is my Aunt May."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," she said pleasantly, extending her hand. "Peter has told me so much about you. From what I hear, you are a wonderful woman."

May reached out to grasp Laura's hand. "Why, thank you. It is nice to meet you, too. Peter has good taste in women, but I see you're quite the pick!"

"May!" Peter said embarrassedly, half-feigned.

"What? It's true."

"Peter and I met while he was photographing the ESU classes for a piece in Front Line. I am currently in my second year of med school." Such was the lie they'd concocted, though Peter vowed to eventually tell May of Laura's mutant status.

May smiled. "Is that right? Peter went to ESU. But a second-year resident? You look so young!"

Laura smiled. "I hear that a lot."

"So does she. Isn't that right, you charming little minx?" said Peter in a nervous attempt at a joke.

"Oh, Peter. You flatter me so much," said May. "Now - Laura, was it? - why don't you come in and have some wheatcakes and freshly squeezed orange juice?"

"I would love some," she said, stepping towards the kitchen.

May stayed back with Peter for a moment and whispered to his ear, "Oh, I like her. She's a keeper, Peter."

Peter grinned. "Glad you think so. I agree... I'm gonna keep her as long as I can."

-----

Later, Cessily and Sooraya hid outside Laura's and Sooraya's room, putting their ears to the door. "I think she's in there with Spider-Man!" said Cessily, excited.

"How do you know? Spider-Man would not likely come here unmasked," Sooraya replied.

"I saw a little flicker when she put his hand in his. It must be an image-changer that reacted to the adamantium on her claws!"

"So they are in there, now?"

"Yeah! We should sneak a peek."

"I do not believe that is wise, Cessily..."

"Aw, c'mon. We'll be really sneaky about it."

"That is sort of my point... She can likely hear us, anyway"

Inside the room, Peter deactivated part of his holo-projector, revealing only his mask. "So, this is your place, huh?" he asked, inspecting it. He smiled at the fact that she had a poster of Spider-Man on her wall.

"Yes. Thank you for being here. Cyclops insisted I stay here in case something bad happens," she said, putting her arms to his face, lifting the mask just enough to have access to his mouth. "I very much appreciate it."

"Hey, I'd do anything for you, you know that." He leaned in for a kiss.

Meanwhile, in the security room, Logan watched Laura's room intently. He'd decided would murder Spider-Man instantly if he pulled anything funny. He squinted as Peter leaned in for a kiss... and suddenly reached behind him, shooting a web at the camera. "Damn him and his common sense," Logan grumbled.

After Peter had fired his webbing, Laura lifted his mask a little further, just so that she could look into his eyes. The two enjoyed a nice, gentle kiss, not wanting to get into anything too heavy here. Fully engrossed in the quality of their contact, they did not notice the sudden swooshing sound of sand, the splashing sound of liquid metal, or the click of a camera.

Outside the window, Cessily and Sooraya gazed at their victory. "Cessily, you promised we would destroy the picture immediately after we viewed it..."

"We will, don't worry. I just wanna see Laura's taste in guys... I mean, she only ever liked Julian, otherwise." The polaroid developed quickly, revealing Peter's face as he pleased Laura with his lips. "No way..."

"Oh my..." said Sooraya.

"He's... he's..." she gulped. "He's totally cute!"

"Now may we destroy it?" Sooraya asked.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead." With a flick of her wrist, Sooraya's sand appeared and tore the picture to unrecognizable shreds. "Wow. So Laura's dating a really cute, really nice guy. That's lucky."

"I believe she deserves a bit of good fortune after what she has gone through in life."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Emma Frost walked by Laura's room and detected an anomaly in her mind. "What?" she thought. "The psychological path of the trigger scent has been greatly altered... instead of it leading to incredible anger and brutality, it leads to... Spider-Man and joy? Impossible. Not even I could have removed such strong conditioning..."

Laura, of course, had felt Emma poking around in her brain. She smiled. She wanted the world to know what Peter had done for her. She wanted to celebrate her new life as much as she could. She wanted to give thanks for the greatest gift she had ever been given: humanity. Because once, she was a brutal killing machine named X-23 who cared only for the mission and had forgone emotion. Now, she had become a loving, happy woman capable of reaching her full emotional spectrum, and all because she had met and fallen in love with such an emotionally powerful, wonderful guy... named Peter Parker.

The ever-lovin' end.


	3. Two Eternal Wounds Mended

"Do we really have to do this, Logan?" asked Spider-Man, dodging Wolverine's claws in the hideout of the New Avengers.

"Yeah!" he said aggressively, charging at Spider-Man. "If yer gonna be with Laura, I gotta make sure ya can protect 'er."

"Uh, don't mean to shock you, but have you seen how she fights? I'm pretty sure she can protect herself."

"Man's gotta protect his girl. That's just how it is."

"Right, well, either way, we did this last week!" he protested, flipping off of the wall.

"The hell is goin' on in here?" asked Luke Cage, walking into the room with Echo and Iron Fist. "Lemme guess, Spidey's got some redhead and you're jealous, right?"

"That's not it. I gotta make sure he's in good shape to protect his girl," growled Wolverine. "Hold still, ya punk!"

"Isn't that the opposite of what you want me to do?" said Spider-Man frantically.

"Who's his girl?" asked Iron Fist.

"Yeah, no, guys, no need to help me restrain this maniac or anything," said Spider-Man, dodging yet another blow. "He's worried I'll do something to hurt Laura."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"My clone," said Wolverine.

"You have a clone?" Echo inquired.

"Who doesn't these days?" joked Spider-Man.

"But if she's a girl..." began Iron Fist.

"Obviously, she's not an exact clone," explained Peter. "She's not even a slightly altered clone; she's got a good chunk of DNA from the woman who birthed her, making her more like Logan's sister or daughter. For the past few months, we've been sle-"

"Don't wanna hear it," growled Wolverine.

"Uh, that is, we've been da-"

"Nope."

"We've been... hanging out?" said Spider-Man tentatively and watched as Logan contemplated as to whether or not this was an offense. He seemed not to mind it.

"I didn't know you were so fatherly, Wolvie," said Luke, smirking.

"Hey, I protect my own," returned Wolverine, slashing at Peter.

"Okay, that's just about enough of that," said Peter. "Hey Fist, is there anyone living in the apartment above us?"

"No."

"Cool." With one swift uppercut packed with all his strength, not holding back, he launched Wolverine's head into the ceiling and proceeded to web him there. "That'll take him a bit to claw his way out. Geez. Like I don't deal with enough nonsense on a daily basis." Suddenly, he remembered why he'd gone to meet the New Avengers in the first place. "Anyway, guys..." he said, lifting his mask above his mouth. "there's a favor I want to ask you."

"What?" asked Luke.

"I'm planning to take down a certain organization... Daredevil helped me get all the coordinates and stuff. All I need is some muscle. I'll understand if you don't want to do it." He began explaining all of Laura's tragic past: her artificial birth, the acceleration of her mutant gene via radiation poisoning, the sawing of her bones and application of adamantium with zero anesthesia, the torture she underwent for the trigger scent, her relentless beatings at the hands of Kimura, and all the other atrocities he could think of, ending with Laura's murder of her mother. Even as he explained these events, his heart ached for his beloved, further bolstering him in his desire to take down the Facility. Iron Fist and Echo stood in sheer horror of what they'd just heard, while Luke remained stoic, a grim look on his face.

"Good God..." said Iron Fist.

"That's... that's horrible," said Echo, hand over her mouth. "To do that to a child? That's horrific!"

"So, what do you say? Will you help?"

"Can't believe you'd tell us this shit," Luke spoke softly.

Peter sighed. "Like I said, I understand. I'll find someone el-"

"Nah, man." A confident grin appeared on Luke's face. "I mean, you'd tell us that we might not want to come? C'mon, man. We may be underground super heroes who are technically wanted criminals..." He reached up to grab the struggling Logan's leg and pulled him out of the ceiling, sending him crashing to the floor. "... but we're still super heroes."

Peter smiled.

"And you bet your webbed ass that I'll want a piece of them," said Logan, removing a few bits of webbing. "You'll need me, anyway. After all, I'm the-"

"Yeah, we know, best at what you do, said thing you do isn't nice, uh-huh," Peter said, pulling the mask below his chin once more. "Whaddya say, guys? Tomorrow, around threeish?" They nodded. "Cool. See you then." With that, he swung out the window to head back towards his apartment.

Once there, he found his girlfriend lying asleep and naked on his bed, clutching the pillow he'd slept on in comfort. Peter could feel his heart swell. _"God, I love this girl,"_ he thought, removing his mask and stepping towards her. Just then, her nostrils perked up and her eyes slid open.

"Peter...?" she mumbled.

"Morning, babe," he said, reaching down and kissing her.

"Good morning... What time is it?" she murmured, rubbing her eyes.

"'Bout two in the afternoon."

"You didn't wake me up?" she said, grabbing her clothes.

"What we had last night was a... long one, and you said Cyclops gave you some time off. Plus, you looked so peaceful sleeping there that I couldn't stand to wake you up." She smiled at his thoughtfulness. "So, want anything to eat? I could give you some of my world famous nuclear waffles."

"I will cook," she said, rising, clad only in her bra and panties. "Please, let me."

"Sure thing," he said and stood to go to the kitchen table. As her healing factor required a lot of food to function properly, she began cooking a large breakfast, augmented by the food she was preparing for Peter. She hummed a sweet tune as she cooked, which Peter found just adorable. Eventually, she served him what she knew to be the meal he most preferred from her: a large stack of pancakes dripping with butter and syrup. "Mmm," he said, licking his lips. Swiftly, he picked up his fork and knife and dug into the delicious meal. They ate, mostly silently, with a few passing glances and smiles at each other. Peter finished first and brought his plate to the sink.

"So, Laura," he said as he scrubbed the plate clean. "I've got something big planned for tomorrow."

"What is it?" she asked through a small bite of eggs.

"I've gotten together a group to attack the Facility." She froze, slowly setting her utensils down. "I promised you that I would find a way to get rid of them... for you, for me, for the good of all."

"You shouldn't..." she uttered softly. "They... they might kill you."

"With the backup I'm bringing? Never. Trust me, it'll be okay. Besides, I nearly had to hurt you because of them. There's no way I'm letting that go. I'm asking you... do you want to come?" Her face fell. "You don't have to if you don't want to, Laura." Her arms began to move under the table. "Laura, don't."

Her eyes widened as her arms withdrew. "You... you know..."

"That you cut yourself? Yeah, I do. I've known all along and I've known when you do it. You ever notice how I always find an excuse to drag you somewhere whenever you're about to start? I didn't say anything because I didn't want to force the issue, so I made sure that you didn't _want_ to cut yourself... and I began to notice that more and more you stopped doing it; just like I noticed when you switched your lipstick from dark purple to candy-apple red, and when you switched from a sports bra to a regular one, even a lacy one at times. I notice all these things about you... I love you, Laura."

She frowned, awed at his revelation. As she ran through her memories, seeking to confirm his assertion, a thought occurred. "You... are one of the few in my life that has never called me X-23..."

"Because that's not your name," he said plainly. "You're not a clone or a weapon, o-or a soulless machine. You're a beautiful, intelligent, wonderful woman, and you don't deserve to be labeled as some sort of experiment. Your mother named you Laura Kinney, and as far as I'm concerned, that's your only name."

She leaned across the small table and kissed him. "Thank you... I believe I will join you, tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too, babe," he said. "Let's get ready for the fight. It's gonna be a big one."

--------------------

That afternoon, Wolverine knocked on the door to Cessily and Sooraya's room. "Hey, open up, you two."

Sooraya opened the door. "What do you need, Mister Logan?"

"You two're good friends with Laura, right?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Then I've got a chance for the two of ya to help 'er out." He briefly explained the situation to the two girls and said, "So whaddya say? Y'wanna take down the bastards that made 'er life hell?"

Cessily and Sooraya nodded, the former with an angered grimace on her liquid metal face. "You bet," said Cessily. "Without Laura, none of us would be here right now. We're going to pay back that favor."

Logan grinned. "Good. Then get ready. We're meeting tomorrow at three. Don't be late.

-------

Meanwhile, Peter and Laura were having dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Peter sat, befuddled, as they ate their steak teriyaki and Laura spoke to the waitress in perfect Japanese. ""I dunno how _anyone _can learn that language. Seems like a huge pain in the butt."

She smiled. "It is tricky, but I have known it for most of my life, so it comes naturally."

"I guess. You know a bunch of other languages too, right?"

"Yes. The Facility taught me many, including Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Russian."

Peter whistled, impressed. "Well, if we ever find time out of our crazy, crazy lives to take a vacation, that'll come in handy." She nodded. As he took a bite of his food, he noticed that she was looking outside the window, towards the other side of the street, specifically at a pet store, a sort of longing on her face. "You wanna go there?"

Her head snapped back and she blushed. She hadn't realized that she'd been gazing forlornly at the shop. "Oh! Um... Yes, I think I would like to go," she said, nodding again.

They finished their meal, paid, and headed over to the pet store, where the bubbly clerk greeted them heartily. "Welcome! Are you interested in supplies, or a pet itself?"

"We're just checking the little guys out," said Peter as Laura wandered through the store. "But we might be back later."

Laura stopped as she reached a small enclosure filled with tiny kittens. Memories flooded her mind as she vividly recalled that wonderful day she'd spent with her cousin, Megan, and how when their travels had brought them to a pet store, several kittens had climbed all over her. Even as she smiled, her heart pounded with sorrow.

Most of the cats were sleeping, but one grey-black baby had opened a tiny green eye and was peering at Laura. Almost inexorably, she extended her arm to the cat, where it began using its tiny claws to haphazardly make its way up the sleeve of her jacket.

"Oh!" said the clerk, noticing the situation. "Bad kitty! Get down!"

"It's alright," said Laura, cradling the cat in her arms. It purred softly as she scratched behind its ears.

"You want that one?" asked Peter.

"No," she said, gently yet reluctantly placing the sleepy kitten back in its space. "It's alright."

"You sure? We can get it if you want."

"I'm sure." She smiled. "Let's go home."

"Alright, you go on ahead. I just remembered I gotta pick up some food for Aunt May's friend's parrot," said Peter. Laura nodded and turned to walk out of the store. About a minute later, she caught Peter's scent and the scent of spandex and webbing approaching quickly. She turned; sure enough, there he was in the tights, swinging towards her. "Hey there, pretty lady!" he called, "You wanna lift?" She smiled, ran towards him, and leapt onto his waist. "I thought this was a good way to get home," he said, shooting out a webline.

"Did they not have the parrot food?"

"Oh, they did, but not the right brand. See, he's a kind of elitist parrot, very finicky, only eats the finest gourmet tasteless pellets. If I show up with the regular kind, I'll just get, 'Squaaaark! You're a peasant! I'm a noble! Kiss my talons! Squaaaark!'" She giggled.

They arrived back at the apartment and Peter quickly undressed down to his underwear and Laura had donned one of Peter's T-shirts after removing her clothing. It was not for sex, but merely for relaxation. She had her arms wrapped around him, her head nestled on his chest. She sighed happily. "You smell good."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? You're the first woman to ever tell me _that_. Usually, it's always, 'Peter, use some Old Spice,' or, 'You should wear Axe,' or, 'Here, let me spray you with some Windex.' That last one actually happened once; needless to say, I only dated her like three more times."

"It is very pleasing to me," she continued. "While it has a common base, the specifics change... at times, it is comforting, relaxing. Other times, it is enticing, exciting... even sensual."

"Well," he said, warmed by her words, "I don't have the proportionate nostril strength of a spider, but I can say, at least, that you smell nice, too."

"Thank you."

As he extended his arm to turn of the lamplight by the bed, he whispered, "Let's get some sleep... tomorrow is a big day." She closed her eyes, curling up to sleep.

They awoke and prepared themselves wordlessly. Both their minds were weighed down with the heft of what they were going to do today. After they finished showering and eating breakfast, they donned their combat gear. "Are you ready?" asked Peter.

"Yes," she said with a nod. "I think I am."

He strained a grin before donning the mask. "Alright then. Hop on," he said, gesturing to his back. She obliged, climbing on and placing her arms around his neck. Opening the window, he leapt and began swinging his way to the New Avengers headquarters. "Hey guys," he said slowly as he entered, sweeping the room with his eyes. Only Iron Fist and Luke Cage were there. "Where's everyone else?"

"Just catchin' a ride," said Luke.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, a giant void opened, created by Cloak, out of which stepped the rest of the New Avengers along with Daredevil. Mercury, and Dust. "I called Ty up, told him the situation, and he decided to do us a solid," Luke explained.

"We've all heard your story," said Daredevil to X-23. "We're here to help. We're going to stop this once and for all."

X-23 blushed for a second before bowing deep to the group. "Thank you, everyone... thank you very much."

"Yeah," said Peter quietly. "You guys are great. Before we leave, I've got something to say. The enemies we're going to be facing aren't like others. Even I've rarely fought people like this... The Facility isn't like AIM or Hydra, they don't merely use cruelty to succeed at some larger goal. These are people whose sole purpose is to _cause_ cruelty and pain. You've all heard what they've done to Laura, to Cessily there, to all mutants, to the world as a whole. I'm not saying to go ahead and kill whoever you find... But don't hesitate, whatever you do. Everyone understand?" The group remained silent. "Good. Let's go." Cloak nodded, opened the warp, and the blackness enveloped them...

They landed in a snow-covered wasteland. "Brrr!" Spider-Man said, shivering. "I wish I'd known it was going to be this cold. I would've double layered my booties. Which way, Daredevil?"

Matt concentrated for a moment before pointing to the faint outline that vaguely looked different from the mountains around it. "There. Let's go."

They began to move, but Laura would not walk. "Laura?" said Peter. "What's wrong?"

In her eyes was a cornucopia of emotions: fear, sorrow, and anger. A bead of sweat trickled down her temple. "This is it..." she whispered.

"What?"

"This is where I-" she gulped. "... Where I killed my mother." Peter remained silent. "They must have rebuilt the facility and set it as their main base after I destroyed it... clever, no one would guess that they would build their base at a ruined location." Tears began flowing from her emerald spheres. "... Her body is probably still around, preserved for all these years by the cold..."

"Laura..." uttered Peter, putting his cold hand around her. "You want to go? We can go."

Her hand clenched into a tight fist. "No. No, you were right. We're ending this now." She wrapped her arms around Peter's waist. "Let's move."

He nodded, webbing onto a tree and launching into the air towards the Facility. Eventually, they broke in, finding no resistance at the entrance. "No guards?" said Peter. "You'd think a place this illegal would be like some kinda death fortress."

"There usually are more guards..." said Laura, shifting her eyes around the room.

"What's the plan, Spidey?" asked Luke.

"Simple," Peter said, cracking his knuckles. "Blow it all up."

--------

The assault had gone well. Spider-Man and the others had stormed the base, destroying any data storage devices, facilitated by Mercury and Dust's respective powers. As they charged, they encountered several legions of soldiers, many of which included mutates created by the Facility.

"Any of these Kimura, Laura?" asked Wolverine.

"No," said Laura, sniffing the the air. "But she is here. This way." They arrived at the main laboratory to find the scene of a massacre. Bodies lay strewn about the room, blood everywhere, and one woman standing in the center next to a bloody paste with a nametag reading "Harkins" next to it. Laura tensed. "Kimura," she said, snikting. The others of the group similarly shifted into aggressive battle stances.

Kimura turned. Her face was not its usual cocky grin. Instead, she seemed almost... broken, her face void of any energy, two streaks of tears down her cheeks. "Hello, X," she said somberly. Laura glared. "Don't worry... I'm not going to hurt you. As a matter of fact, I can't."

"What?" asked Laura.

"Thank Emma Frost... she made it so that I would come and destroy every remnant of the Facility and kill Adam Harkins, the creator of Predator X. I have hit several Facility bases around the world. This is the last one. I was going to destroy the databases, but... it seems you have beaten me to the punch."

"You have been destroying Facility locations?"

"Yes. They must've come after you recently, correct? They did so because you, their finest work, were their last hope at revitalizing themselves. But they have no hope now. All that's left is you and me."

"What do you mean?"

She produced a chemical vial. "This," said Kimura, "is a chemical that they created in case I ever went rogue. They must have figured I wouldn't, since I'd been such a faithful soldier. They obviously didn't get to use it in time. It neutralizes my power at the place where it's applied, making the flesh normal." She uncorked the vial and splashed a bit of the liquid on her throat. "Go ahead, X. It's time. Kill me." Laura froze, stunned by the situation. "What's wrong? After all I've done to you, this must be what you want, right? I know you've thought and thought of ways to kill me, and now you finally have one. So go ahead. Do it."

Slowly, Laura walked to Kimura and raised her claws. "Yes..." she whispered. She hesitated.

"Laura..." Peter uttered.

Her hand remained in the air, unmoving as the room waited with bated breath. Suddenly, she turned her head just enough to glance at Peter for a split second, then turned it back to Kimura. She lowered her hand. "Kimura," she said softly, yet firmly. "You are a monster; a horrible, horrible piece of filth that does not deserve to be called human. You made my life so horrendous that I sought solace in torturing _myself._ You conspired with Rice to make me kill my sensei and even my own mother. You conspired with Harkins to torture Cessily and create a mutant-hunting monster. You tried to kill the only family I've ever known. By all means, for what you've done as a blight upon the world, I should, I really _should_ kill you." She turned away and began walking back to Peter. "But I won't. You will live. That is a far worse punishment. Good bye, Kimura."

As Peter embraced her, he gestured to Cloak, who nodded and began the warp. "Good bye, X" said Kimura, her tears springing forth anew.

Spider-Man and the others returned to the New Avengers' base, where they parted ways silently. Laura began to leave with Wolverine, but he put his hand to her shoulder and said, "No. Go with him. This guy planned out this whole thing _just_ for you... he's taken better care of ya than anyone else. Go on."

She smiled her sweet smile and hugged Logan tightly before running back to Peter and embracing him. "Thank you for this," she whispered.

"Don't worry about it. I'm proud of you." He grabbed her around the waist and swung away. "And Laura... your nightmare is over."

----------

"Elixir," said Laura a few weeks later in the X-Men's base.

"Oh, hey Laura," said Josh Foley cheerfully as he crossed a date off of the December page of his calendar. "What's up?"

"I would like to ask a favor of you," she said quietly.

"Shoot." She leaned in next to his ear and whispered her request, completely deadpan. A hint of red appeared on his gold cheeks, turning them a bright copper. "Uh, r-really? You want me to do that?"

"Yes, please. If you need, I can pay you to-"

"No, no, it's okay, but... can I ask why?"

She smiled. "I too want to do a favor."

Josh's eyes widened in realization. "Oh! Is this for Spider-Man?" She nodded. "I gotcha. Still, it's going to take a lot of energy to pull off something this precise. In exchange..." he pulled out a picture of himself, "Can you get him to sign this, please? Just have him write, 'Josh, you're a great guy and an awesome X-Man,' and then his name."

Her smile deepened. "Yes, I think I can do that."

"Excellent!" he said, his face lighting up. "Alright then..." he muttered, gulping, "Let's get this show on the road." He lifted a golden finger to her forehead and closed his eyes in concentration. Afterwards, he pushed one finger lightly into her collarbone and one to her hip, breathing heavily as he did so. "Alright," he said woozily, "All... done." He started swaying.

"Thank you," she said, giving him a quick hug and as she released him, he fell right onto his bed.

--------------

"Good thing the X-Men decided to have their party on the 23rd," said Peter, hanging upside down in front of Laura . "Aunt May'd kill us if we missed Christmas Eve. Well, she'd kill me. She'd probably hug you and say, 'It's alright, dearie, there's always next year, now help me bury the body, will you?'"

She chuckled. "Would you like some punch?" she asked, offering a cup.

"From the punch dimension?" he said, pulling his mask up and accepting the drink.

"What?"

"Never mind. Why's Logan dressed like an elf?"

"Cyclops bet him that he couldn't resist taking a drink all this week."

"Huh. Thought he had more self-control than that."

"Cyclops asked Pixie to tell Logan about her favorite television show."

Peter nearly spurted out his mouthful of punch. "Wow. I now fully respect Cyclops a good ten points more than before. This punch taste weird to you?"

"No."

"Huh." He took another gulp.

"I never understood this holiday," she said, looking around at the festive decorations. "Well, I understood the significance of the celebration, of the gifts... but I have never really experienced it the way others do. I have never even received a Christmas present."

As Peter finished the last of his juice, he said, "Well, then I'm going to be very glad that I did this. Close your eyes and hold out your arms." Confused, she did so and heard the sound of Peter walking across the ceiling, to the corner, and back. "I was going to save this for a few minutes later, but hey, you brought up presents, so..."

Laura felt something small, warm, and furry land in her hands. It was purring. She opened her eyes. "It's..."

"Yep," said Peter, smiling. "It's the cat from the pet store." He thought back to that day...

--------

_"Alright, you go on ahead,"_ _said Peter. "I just remembered I gotta pick up some food for Aunt May's friend's parrot." She nodded and turned to exit. After she'd left earshot, he walked to the clerk and said, "Okay, can you do me a favor?" He whipped out his wallet and extracted a twenty dollar bill. "Make sure no one buys that cat."_

_The clerk's eyes widened at the money. "Uh, s-sure. No problem."_

_He grinned. "Good. I'll just take one of these," he pulled out a business card from the top of the counter, "And I'll be on my way. Thanks," he said, dashing out of the store._

_"Come again soon..." muttered the clerk. "Wow. Never seen someone that eager to buy a cat."_

_-------_

The cat's large green eyes matched gaze with her own. It began purring softly. "Peter..." she whispered breathlessly. "This... this is..."

"Merry Christmas, Laura." He glanced up towards a green plant webbed to the ceiling. "Mistletoe. You know what that-"

"Yes," she said, cradling the kitten in one hand. Eagerly, she reached up and kissed him, passion flowing from her mouth to his.

"Whoo," said Peter as they parted. "Now that was a-" He truncated the sentence, his eyes widened by a sudden feeling.

"Peter? Are you alright?"

"We need to leave," he said, detaching from the ceiling and scooping up Laura and lifting her over his shoulder. "Now. Hold onto that cat," he tore open a window and leapt out of it, "'Cause it's gonna be a bumpy ride."

"Peter, what is going on?"

"Explain later," he said as he began to breathe heavily.

Eventually, they arrived at the apartment, where Peter set Laura down, snatched the cat out of her arms, and set it outside the bedroom. "What happened?" she asked, her arms folded.

He turned to the side, allowing her to view the outline of his enormous erection in his uniform. "Uh... this," he said, blushing.

"Oh my..." she said after a gasp. "I see it has set in."

"Yeah, it- wait, _what?"_

"Earlier tonight, I gave you an artificial erectile stimulant."

"An artificial..." it clicked. "The punch!"

"Yes."

"I thought it tasted weird... wait, you_ drugged_ me with _viagra_?"

"That is correct. Are you angry?"

His cock throbbed painfully. "No. But I would like some sex. Can we please, _please_ have some sex?"

"Yes." She unfolded her arms, revealing her very stiff nipples poking through her top. Peter peered at them, eyebrows raised. It was her turn to blush. "I... that is, when I get the chance to see you, I become very aroused, and..." She brought a hand to one nipple, lightly caressing it. "Sometimes I don't even need to see you, I can just imagine you, and I get like this..."

A sly grin emerged. "Oh yeah? Just seeing me like this?" He removed his top. "Well, what if I did this?" He continued on with his pants. "Or this?" Swiftly, he removed his gloves and webshooters and placed his hands on her soft cheeks. "Or how about... this?" he whispered, kissing her and maneuvering his tongue through her lips, putting it to her mouth like a paintbrush. She moaned in response and quickly pulled back. "Huh? What, what is it?" he asked, desperate.

"It is beginning."

"What is?"

"I... ohhhh," she groaned. "I did not think it would feel... this... _good..."_ Suddenly, Peter saw it: Laura's pants and top were slowly tightening... her ass and breasts were _growing._

"Oh... oh my God," he sputtered. She arched her back, jutting her boobs forward as she took each breast in hand and began squeezing. Finally, it ended, leaving her more or less as voluptuous as Felicia Hardy, but on her proportionately tiny frame, the hourglass created by the new endowments seemed much larger. "L... Laura..." Peter forced himself to gurgle, "What is... I... how did..."

"It is temporary. I asked my teammate Elixir to enhance my figure to what I believed was your liking, increasing the sensitivity of my erogenous zones as well. The transformation would occur once and with a trigger, which I asked to be increased arousal." She began breathing deeply, causing her chest to rise and fall. "Is... is it to your liking?" Peter gaped at her, nodding very slowly, mesmerized. "If you wish to continue..." she uttered as her hand migrated down to her groin, "I suggest you begin, or I will do it myself."

Peter moved like lightning, seizing her hands and almost tackling her to the bed. His voice echoed with hunger as he disrobed her. "Oh, no. Oh, no no no _no._ You're mine. You're all mine and no one gets to enjoy you but _me."_ He began suckling one nipple, teasing the other as she drew a sharp intake of air. Just as he drove her mad by gingerly nibbling her erect tip, his Spider-Sense tingled.

Snikt!

Peter leapt back in fear. Laura's claws had sprouted from her hand just centimeters from where his penis had been. She looked down at her claws, her face scarlet as she retracted them, turning her eyes from him. "Uh..." she mumbled, "S-sometimes, when I g-get really excited, like this, I c-can't control all of my muscles, and..." She grabbed at her clothes. "I'm so sorry. I'll leave," she said, tears welling up in her ashamed eyes.

He caught her wrist. "Laura," he said calmly, "It's okay. Just focus a little more, alright?"

"B-b-but I almost-"

"Hey," he interrupted, "I'm still in the mood. And by the looks of things..." he glanced at her still pert tips, "... You are, too. Am I right?" She nodded, wiping the tears from her reddened cheeks. "Alright. Then let's get this show on the road, because really, I can't wait much longer."

"Yes. I will help you," she said, leaning down.

"Wha-"

She pushed him down onto the bed and moved to his groin, taking in the sight of his stiffened member. "Please hold still," she said, taking her newly grown breasts and smothered his cock with them.

Peter's eyes shot open to the size of dinner plates. "L-Laura?! What are you-"

"I am pleasuring you." She began to pump her fleshy masses up and down his shaft. Their warmth and softness sent Peter into an elated daze. Laura noticed that the tip of his erection was still visible out of the top of her cleavage. Lightly, she swiped her tongue over it.

"Gah!" Peter yelped. "Did- did they teach you this, too?"

"No. I am improvising."

"Well, you're d-doing a great - Jeez! - great job!"

"Thank you." All at once, she began using her tits and mouth in tandem, making Peter clutch the sheets with an iron grip. Faster and faster she moved, until Peter could bear it no longer.

"Laura, I'm gonna... I'm gonna-"

"Go ahead..." He let out a primal yell and with one large throb sent a surge of semen into her mouth. Laura diligently swallowed every last drop.

She released him as Peter lay panting on the bed. Shaking his head to regain his senses, he crawled towards her, arm outstretched, and said, "That was incredible. Now it's your turn." He applied his hands to her body, using his spider powers to send the usual waves of pleasure through her body. She started shrieking, grabbing one of Peter's hands to direct him down to her clitoris. He obliged, manipulating her nub and making her scream. This was what he wanted, to push her over the edge, beyond her normal mental scope.

"Please..." she moaned, "Please, Peter, please... I need it."

"Need what, Laura?" he asked, toying with her. "Need _what?"_

"I need you... I need you _inside_ me, I need you to..."

"Yes?"

"To _fuck _me!" she cried.

There was something very few people knew about Peter Parker. Most people saw the dominant part of his soul; the good, caring, responsible man who never put his needs in front of others. That was the part of himself that he liked, the part that he felt was his true self... but deep within, suppressed by the superego, he held in chains a darker part of himself, a portion of his mind that roared with furious hunger and would not stop at any cost to satiate it. Now, with the sexual energy so prevalent in the air, he had transformed... into the hunter. The predator. He'd always been tentative with his girlfriends. Having the proportionate strength of a spider meant holding back all the time, even during intimate moments. He could never let himself go full bore without feeling guilt. Right now, however, he had a girl all to his own whom, for all intents and purposes, he could not damage with his strength.

And he was going to make full use of her.

"Of course," he said, licking his lips. "Anything for you." He thrust into her with all his strength and she let out a piercing cry.

At first, Peter had never appeared to have a particularly large member. Of course, it was difficult to achieve, let alone sustain an erection while swinging through the cold air and dodging living sand, but also, Peter had been blessed: while his flaccid size was small, his erect length was nothing short of tremendous. Was it natural? Was it some odd perversion from his Spider-Powers? She didn't know. More importantly, she didn't _care_. Now, artificially sustained via pharmaceuticals, he seemed to be splitting her in half with his size and she _loved_ it.

Possessed by the pleasure, she began to match his thrusting rhythm, her screams fluctuating in pitch and volume. She took hold of one of Peter's hands and brought it to her rear, planting it there, silently instructing him to squeeze. His fingers sank into the soft flesh and she moaned still more, her erotic energies coming to a head. "_Already?"_ she thought, her senses going wild. "I... Oh, Peter, Peter, _Peeeeteeeeer!" _she shrieked at the top of her lungs as she came with the force of a tornado. Peter followed suit, emptying another load into her, her name echoing off his lips.

She rolled over onto her stomach, breathing deeply, basking in the afterglow of the orgasm. Suddenly, she felt a strong hand lift her waist up. "You don't think we're done, do you?" said Peter greedily. "Oh, we're just getting started, babe." Laura thanked the fact that she had superhuman stamina as he thrust into her again from behind. She bit down on her lower lip, trying to restrain her reaction to the whirlwind of ecstasy. Her conscious mind ended; the world around her melted into one watercolor smear of elation. She lost count of how many times she climaxed, but judging by how sore her pelvis was becoming, it had been a lot. All she knew was that she needed him, needed his cock inside her cunt, needed to be impaled upon him over and over, to have his seed fill her...

Sometime later, she awoke. A hazy memory surfaced of her literally crawling, her body completely exhausted of all energy, to lay her sweat drenched head on her pillow. Peter's arms had wrapped around her shortly afterwards. Her body had returned to normal. "Unh...?" she groaned, still emerging from her sex coma.

"Hey," said Peter. "'Bout time you woke up. How're you feeling?" She smiled weakly and let out a pleased sigh. "I'll take that as a 'pretty good, thanks.' By the way... we've got a visitor." She felt the nuzzling of the newly acquired cat on her abdomen. Enamored, she pulled the little furball to her chest, where it purred for a bit before dropping off to sleep. "I think she's got the right idea. Sleep, Laura... we had quite the busy night. I think I might've gone a bit too, uh, rough on you, but we're even, right?"

She settled more snugly into her blanket. "Love... you..." she whispered, barely coherent, and her breathing turned soft.

He smiled, his heart swollen by the woman next to him. "I love you too, Laura. Good night."

The next morning, her eyes opened with Peter's arms still wrapped around her. "Peter..." she whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you love me?"

"What?"

"Why do you love me? Until that day we met so many months ago, I never thought twice about killing the opposition, the target. But now... now I can't bear to even think of hurting them without feeling your eyes on my heart. I have killed countless men and women, even children, without remorse... I have bathed in the blood of hundreds, maybe thousands. My own mother died by my hand..." Tears sprang forth from her bright emerald spheres. "I'm horrible. I'm not even a true human being, just a science experiment made for murder and no matter how much I try to pretend my name is 'Laura Kinney,' it is and forever will be 'X-23!'" She sobbed into her pillow. The kitten in her arms perked its head up. "And you, such an amazing man, who has always practiced pacifism unbroken... I don't deserve such a man. I don't deserve _any_ decent person. How can you love a wretched thing like me?"

Peter frowned as she cried her eyes out. "Laura," he spoke softly into her ear. "Yeah, you've killed a lot. You've killed maybe more than any person I've known, even Wolverine. So, despite your killing, why would I love you?" He turned her around gently, passing a loving finger across her moist cheeks. His warm, comforting smile seemed to illuminate the room. "Simply... because you stopped."

Her lower lip trembled as her eyes grew wide. "Oh, Peter..." she leaned forward and planted a wet, sloppy kiss. "I love you so much."

He ran his hand through her hair. "I don't just love you, Laura. I need you. Thank you."

------------

"So, Laura, here is your annual Christmas sweater," said Aunt May, handing Laura the clothing. "I make one every year for Peter and, should he have one, his girlfriend. I know it's not much, but it's tradition."

Laura smiled as she donned the garment. "I love it. Thank you, Ms. Parker."

"Oh, call me May, please."

"Cocoa, ladies?" said Peter, entering the living room with two steaming mugs.

"Why thank you, Peter. How thoughtful, as always."

"Thank you," said Laura quietly, sipping the drink. She observed the scene before her and felt something she hadn't for the longest time... she felt that she belonged. She took another gulp of her cocoa. It, and the handmade sweater around her, made her feel so, so warm.

----------

"So, Emma, did you get all your Christmas shopping done?" asked Cyclops in his and Emma's bedroom.

"Yes, Scott. There's one present I'm quite proud of, in fact."

"Oh? Mind sharing it?"

"I installed level-10 mental shields on both Spider-Man and Laura and then wiped Spider-Man's identity from my own memory."

"I... wow," said Scott. "That's very kind, Emma. I'm impressed. But may I ask why? I thought you didn't like Laura."

"That's what many think. I never _dis_liked her, I merely thought her a danger to the institute... but after what that girl has gone through, what she has done for the X-Men, and how many of us she's saved time and again without asking for anything in return, I thought that the least she deserved was the peace of mind of not worrying about the government torturing her for the man she loves. After all, we both know that she _would_ die before she gave him up, and having read Spider-Man's mind, I know he would do the same."

Cyclops gave her a kiss. "I love it when you realize that you're a decent human being, Emma."

---------

Peter put his arm around Laura and planted a kiss on her warm cheek, feeling something _he_ rarely felt in _his_ life. He felt whole. He felt at peace. He felt that maybe he _was_ a good person, a hero, that maybe everything _wasn't _all his fault, and none of it would have happened, if he hadn't met a sweet, innocent, loving person... like Laura Kinney.


End file.
